Foreign Ministry expects countries to hold high-level talks on historic and bilateral issues

Beijing said on Friday that top-level meetings with Japan bear special significance but have to win the understanding of the people.

The remarks came one day after Natsuo Yamaguchi, the head of the Komeito party, a junior partner in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition, handed over a letter from Abe to President Xi Jinping before the president met a group of senior Asian political figures.